Air cleaner for internal-combustion engines



March 23 1926. 1,577,715

. R. o. HENDRICKSQN AIR CLEANER FOR INTERNAL GOMBUSTION ENGINES FiledApril 2o, 1921 Mn/66S Patented Mar. 23, 1926.

asians- UNITED S'IATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT oi HENnRIcxsoN, or RACINE, WIscONsIN, AssIcNoR 'ro` J. I.. cAs:aPLOW woRxs COMPANY, or RACINE, WISCONSIN, A, CORPORATION or DELAWARE.

AIR CLEANER RoR INTERNAL-CCMBUSTION ENGINES.

' Application filed April 20, 192'1. Serial No. 463,074.

To au whom z't may concern:

Be it. knownthat I, Roun'r O. HnNnl'ncK- SON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Racine, in the county of Racine and State ofWisconsin, have-invented certain new and useful Improvements in AirCleaners for Internal-Combustion Engines, of which thc following is aspecification.

When the air employed for combustion in internal combustion engines istaken directly from the atmosphere to the carburetor or to the engineCylinder it is apt to be charged with dirt and grit which is veryinjurious to the engines, accumulating therein and causing undue wear.It is the purpose of the present' invention to provide a means forfiltering the air before it reaches the carburetor or the engine andthus remove the grit and dirt therefrom materially prolonging the lifeof the engine and the periods between repairs.

In the drawing accompanying and forming part of this application I haveshown and in the following specification described a preferred form ofthe invention; it is to be understood however, that the specificdisclosure is for the purpose of exemplification only and that the scopeof the invention is defined in the following claims in which I haveendeavored to distinguish it from the prior art so far as known to mewithout however, relinquishing or abandoning any portion or featurethereof.

In the drawings Fig.. 1 is a side elevatlon of an engine of ordinarytype to .which my invention has been applied; Fig. 2 an end elevationpartly in section of the preferred form of my invention and Fig. 3 avertical section through same on a plane perpendicuvlar to that of Fig.2.

In the preferred form of the invention shown the main body of the deviceis preferably in the nature of a casting 4 which 1s formed or providedat 5 with a chamber which, in use, is filled or packed with a body 6 ofwool or other similar fibrouspervious or absorbent material. In thespecific construction shown the body of wool is supported upon a screen7 and 1s packed between the same and a perforated horizontal wall 8,perforations in which serve for the admission of air. At 9, I Plg. 2, isa cover plate for closing the opening through vwhich the fibrousmaterial is packed into chamber 5. The air to be cleaned enters thedevice through an orifice 10 which preferably ls connected to an airheater 11, (seo -Fig. 1), surrounding the exhaust manifold material isconfined and which receives theair after it is filtered through thewool. An outlet :nozzle 17 for the air projects into the chamber 16 andis flared at 18 and provided with an internal annular rib 19 for apurpose which will appear. Beneath the outlet chamber 16 is an oilchamber 20 which communicates with chamber 16 "through a narrow passage21. The oil chamber 20 is separated from the fiaring passage 14 by Wall22 which is perforated at 23. The oil chamber is filled with oil througha filling opening 24 provided for this purpose. The openlng oropenings'23 are somewhat above the bottom of the chamber 20 so that thedirt contained in the oil can ksettle to the bottom and may be drawnoff' from `time to time through the plugged opening 26. A transversepartition 27 extends across the oil chamber at substantially the middlethereof as seen in Fig. 3, butterminates somewhat short of the bottom ofthe chamber so that there is a free passage through the partition, thepurpose of which is to reduce splashing of the oil. y

The operation of the device will now be apparent. The air heated in thestove 11 enters the passage 10 due to the suction of theengine andpassing through the opening 13 rushes up the passage 14. In so doing itcarries with it considerable amounts of the oil issuing through theopenings 23 and the oil is deposited in the brous Or absorbent materialas the air is d awn through the latter. Thus the .fibrous material iskept saturated with oil which drips therefrom into the air outletchamber 16 and finally reaches the oil chamber again through the opening21. The grit and dirt contained in the air are separated therefrom bythe oil saturated fibre and the cleaned air entering the chamber 16 isdrawn off through the outlet 17, the ribs or beads on the flared innerend of whichserve to interce t any .drops of oil which may be entrainedy the air. Obviously the en argement of the outlct at the entering endand the enlarged space about the edges of the same very greatly reducethe speed of the air at this point so that it readily deposits any oilwhich it may contain.

I claim:

1. An air cleaner con'xprisiug a filter chamber having an air inlet andan air outlet, fibrous material in saidchamber, an oil chamber beneaththe same to receive the oil dripping' from said fibrous material, an airpassage adacent the oil chamber and leading tothe chamber containing thefibrous matcrial, there being an unobstructed passage for oil betweensaid chamber and said air passage, and an outlet for air intermediatethe filter and oil chamber.

2. In a device of the class described, acasing, a filter chamber in theupper part thereof containing a fibrous mass, an oil chamber forreceiving oil from the fibrous mass located in the bottom of thechamber. an airchamber intermediate the filter and oil chambers andcommunicating with both` an air outlet communicating with said airchamber, a substantially vertical air passage communicating adjacent itsbottom with the oil chamber, and an air passage communicating with thelower end of the first saldfpassage and with the upper end of the lte'rchamber.

'3. In a device of the class described,l a casing` having a mass offiltering `material therein, anair chamber below said mass, an airoutlet for conductin the air from said chamber, an oil chamber low saidair 'chamber and communicating therewith and receiving oil therefrom, anair inlet passage adjacent the oil chamber, there being unobstructedopenings to permit thc `oil from the oil chamber to flow into the airpassage.

4. In,a device of the class described, a casing, a filter chamber withinthe casing having upper and lower perforated walls, a mass of 011filtering material in the filter chamber, an air chamber below thefilter chamber, an air outlet therefrom, an oil chamber beneath said airchamber and conimunicating therewith, a vertical inlet passage for theair having at the opening at the upper end thereof,A a second verticalpassage communicating with the first at the bottom and adjacent the oilchamber, perforations in the wall, separating the oil chamber from thesecond said vertical passage and a substantially horizontal passageconnected to said vertical passage and extending upon lie upperperforated wall of the filter cham- 5. In a d evice of the classdescribed, a fil# ter chamber having perforate upper and lower walls, amass of fibrous material in said chamber, an air chamber immediatelybelow said filter chamber, an air outlet from said chamber having adownwardly turned flaring inlet nozzle, an oil chamber beneath andcommunicating with said air chamber, a substantially vertical air inletpassage adapted to receive air at its upper end, an

' air passage extending from the lower end of the first said air passageupwardly to the upper perforate wall of the filter chamber,

therebeing openings connecting said oil' chamber with the latter saidair passaofe.

ROBERT o. HENDRICKSN.

